Historical Context for Idle No More

It's been a cool wet summer across most of Canada. And things have yet to heat up politically, despite a combined call from Idle No More organizers and Defenders of the Land for a 'Sovereignty Summer' of indigenous mass non-violent direct action.

But things could still get hot. Many of the possible flashpoints involve tarsands and pipelines, and have the potential to mobilize significant non-indigenous support (and opposition, for that matter!). For example, youth from the Dene Nation in northern Alberta have issued a call to shut down 'the Tar Sands Highway,' Hwy 63, on August 24th.

In the meantime, here's a piece giving historical context on the Idle No More movement, and its demands:

Timeline of Assimilation & Resistance – pdf

I would argue that if demands like those put forth by Idle No More seem unreasonable to mainstream Canadians, it's only because we don't know or understand the history of First Peoples and Euro-Canadians.

An earlier version of this piece appeared in The Leveller, in two parts.